Lithgow’s Commonwealth Games athletes Lachi Sharp and David Palmer are in medals contention after making sensational starts to their respective competitions. Neither one had experienced defeat as of Thursday afternoon and were shaping as strong medals chances. Sharp has helped the Kookaburras to secure top spot in Pool B of the men’s hockey competition and a place in Friday’s semi-finals. Palmer and his partner partner Zac Anderson finished top of Pool E of the men’s doubles squash campaign to make it through to a round of 16 clash with the Welsh on Thursday night. Sharp missed the first two matches of the Kookaburras’ unbeaten campaign due to illness, but made his way back into the squad for the match against Canada, helping them to a 4-0 victory. It set up a thrilling clash with the also unbeaten New Zealand side, the Black Sticks, to determine who would finish on top, with the Australians winning 2-1. The Kookaburras will now play England in Friday’s semi-final to secure a place in the gold-medal match on Saturday. Meanwhile Palmer and Anderson had 2-0 wins over the Cayman Islands and Jamaica to top their pool and were aiming for a victory over the Welsh pair of Peter Creed and Joel Makin on Thursday. A win there would put them into Friday’s quarter finals. Matches to determine gold, silver and bronze are on Sunday.